How’re your food cravings these days? Your moods? Staying close to home? Tearing up at ads? Missing your Mommy? It’s all part of the cellular pull of the Cancer Full Moon. If only the rest of the sky would let us crawl under a blankie and enjoy.

A full moon always brings emotions and nonrational impulses to a crest, and none so much as when she is in her natural sign of Cancer. Have you ever gone back home or visited relatives and found old childhood needs, behaviors and dynamics resurfacing? A similarly automatic regressing happens under a Cancer Full Moon.

It stirs issues of home, tradition, comfort and nurturing, in the context of long-term goals and security, and responsibility and dependability. Throws in heaps of shoulds and guilt. And poses the ever-changing questions of who’s the mommy, who’s the daddy, and who gets to be the baby.

No wonder folks are hypersensitive. What we want is something — a hug, a doughnut, a soft stuffed animal — to make us feel safe and secure.

Unfortunately, plenty out there in the world is making us feel anything but that. A lot of people aren’t getting with the program…though, surprisingly, a lot are. Just not consistently who you might have expected.

We’re feeling a monumental evolutionary surge. The Sun has just passed the clarifying, simplifying scythe of Pluto, agent of unavoidable change. He remains close enough for our consciousness to tingle with awareness of our newly honed sense of self.

We can’t go back to how we used to be. Relationships, alliances and agreements are now playing catch-up in response. They’re bearing the brunt of the unavoidable undercurrents and stresses accompanying this Full Moon.

Part of the tension comes from boundless Jupiter being in Libra, aka Relationship Central, exactly in between the Sun and the Moon. Reason and emotion are bearing down equally on him, demanding awareness, expression and action.

All three participants, the Sun, Moon and Jupiter (forming the dynamic configuration of a tight t-square), are getting riled up non-stop. Agitation, disruption and seemingly unresolvable conflict are in the mix. Perhaps you’ve noticed?

They come from the fiery, uncontrollable duo that has been inflaming the core wound of our nation’s psyche: volatile, unpredictable Uranus, advocate for rebellion, liberation and alternate perspectives, and his current traveling companion Eris, goddess of discord. Lovely couple, right? Just who you want to have in your home. Where they’ve taken up residence for the foreseeable future.

They’re opposite Jupiter, upping the noise level and making it hard to find common ground or points of compromise. They’re arguing for breaking off on your own, in some cases through other people acting hell bent on stirring up trouble. They aren’t inclined to shut up, either.

Hence the extremes in emotional waters — some turbulent enough to warrant dramamine, some as soothing and nourishing as amniotic fluid. This year’s Cancer Full Moon is showing, more than the usual, who and what feels safe, and who and what decidedly does not.

Based on that status report, the concept of family, so sacred to Cancer, may well be up for redefinition. This goes for legal and blood family as well as chosen and tribal connections.

Relatives are the first front. They’re center stage now, whether they’re in your life (and face) at the moment or popping up energetically. You might be finding certain dramas extending past the holidays, or be experiencing your emotional reactions to them only now.

More than in the past, lines of demarcation have a lot to do with politics, world view and value systems. Thank Saturn, lord of order, rules, the patriarchy and the status quo and, of course, the Capricorn Sun. He’s in the sign of Sagittarius, where approaches to and philosophies of life can become fiery and judgmental. He’s cooperating with Jupiter in Libra, while fueling those rabblerousers Uranus and Eris.

That teamwork is adding to the condescending, patronizing, self-righteous and condemning blasts so many of us are receiving and observing (but not sending out, right?), and the widening of gulfs that feel less and less bridgeable.

Discord is running rampart, straight into the heart of families. With so little room for peacemaking, compromise or reconciliation — for the moment, at least — ties of blood and shared memories are losing their hold. Instead, this Cancer Full Moon is awakening appreciation of trusted family, chosen family, safe havens and realigned tribes.

It’s also steeling your backbone to stop looking for safety and nurturing from people who are showing so clearly that they are unwilling or incapable of giving it. And to stop feeling responsible for people, no matter what their legal relationship to you may be, who don’t want, need or appreciate your efforts to care for them.

The good news: What’s safe and supportive has staying power. We’ve got the motivation to embrace and protect it. Saturn is conjunct Juno, queen of the gods and protector of marriage. They’re encouraging deals, alliances, serious relationships and legal marriages, complete with license and rings. (Cue Beyonce.)

The bottom line, so dear to Capricorn? What makes you feel safe and secure is up to you. This Full Moon promises to show you what that means and inspire you to cherish and protect it. And maybe deliver an updated answer to the eternal questions of who’s the mommy, who’s the daddy and who gets to be the baby. (Hint: Could be you.)

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me. Or do they? The question is up for consideration under the Gemini Full Moon. It’s highlighting the emotional power and impact of words, from the ones you tell yourself to everything that floats by, to and through you.

Where is your mind going? What’s pouring in and out of it? How’s your information flow these days? More to the point: how is it making you feel? Happy? Safe? Disoriented? Confused? Angry? Resolute?

Staying calm and centered — and even just knowing which thoughts are yours and which belong to someone else — have been more than the usual challenge lately. One reason is the epidemic of seemingly inescapable, emotionally laden messages in private and public conversation. Another is the pervasive sense that we have become unmoored from what previously passed as reality. Both trends are escalating to a point of departure now.

The weeks since the Sagittarius New Moon have brought abundant opportunity to commit to your personal code of ethics by putting it into action. They’ve also encouraged people to make statements that show who they really are. Have you been listening? Some of these statements are still hovering around you and have a role to play in your Full Moon process. Tune in to them.

Social media has been abuzz with fake news and admonitions about sites to avoid, calling out lies and spreading tantrums and Tweetstorms. What’s been your personal parallel? Think about how these phenomena have been showing up in your life. Has someone lied to you? Have you been lying to yourself? Basing opinions on faulty data?

Words that never were true, spoken to help nobody but you, words with lies inside — “Words,” by Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart, recorded by The Monkees

This Moon Full supports reviewing the quality and reliability of your information flow — and reshaping it to your benefit. That does not necessarily mean eliminating viewpoints that differ from yours. It’s hardly helpful to live an echo chamber that amplifies one perspective and blocks the possibility of learning and growth.

It may be time, however, to separate yourself from viewpoints and messages that violate your code of ethics, make you feel bad, or harm you. And to rethink your information sources. And maybe to spend less time online. Or more in direct contact. Face to face, even.

You can do this. Easily. The rulers of this Full Moon party are both pushing this along, in their own distinctive ways.

Cosmic messenger Mercury is the ruler of the Gemini Moon, and he’s closing in on Pluto, lord of death and regeneration, who strips everything he touches down to its essence. That’s a recipe for deep-level, permanent change., which we’ll get to revisit and take even deeper when Mercury begins his final retrograde of the year on December 19.

Less dramatically, the ruler of the Sagittarius Sun, boundless Jupiter, is making harmonious links to both the Sun and the Moon, which open both mind and heart to optimism and positive expansion.

The same result is coming from action hero Mars, in progressive, detached, future-oriented Aquarius. He is working with Jupiter and the Moon in the freely flowing energy of a grand trine. which connects thoughts, emotions and actions in a continuous loop. The warrior god’s Spock-like perspective (and willingness to fight for the greater good) is blending with the Gemini Moon’s lively, multi-faceted intellectual bent (and emotional reactions to our data flow) and Jupiter’s optimism, expansiveness and current interest in relationships and agreements.

An example of this trio’s potential is the veterans’ arrival at Standing Rock on December 4, which combined warriors, social action, and communicating information and emotions via channels outside mainstream media. Like that convergence, the Moon/Jupiter/Mars trine is pouring alternate and more beneficial possibilities into our thoughts, emotions, actions and social compacts.

Pressure is bearing down to reset boundaries, too. It may not be as comfortable as Jupiter’s input, but it’s both helpful and curative. It’s coming off the dynamic configuration of the t-square the Sun and the Moon are making to Chiron in Pisces, and offering an escape route into intactness.

With the wounded healer in the waters of interconnectedness, we have been, in some ways, drowning in emotional wounds — ours, our friends’ and family’s, those of the downtrodden or underdogs, strangers’ plights that flash across our screens, down to deep and core traumas in our collective psyche.

This Full Moon has the power to propel us out of the morass. And the way out may be as simple as changing your thinking. And that may be as simple as becoming aware of what is yours and what is someone else’s.

That impulse is right in line with the individuating fervor building within each of us. The Full Moon is a direct lead-in to the month’s biggest astro-attraction, the booster rocket blast detonating on December 24. Order-loving Saturn is teaming with cosmic instigator Uranus, with Jupiter dosing both ends with high-octane fuel accelerant.

Maximum life force is building within each of us. With wild card Uranus in the mix, it’s impossible to predict with any certainty the how and what that’s coming. Still, this Full Moon may provide some road markers.

It’s stoking the future-oriented genius of Uranus, which is inspiring courageous leaps onto our own distinctive paths. The Sun is standing with Saturn, bringing stability and an energetic grounding cord to the Full Moon and the blast that is coming.

So clean your radar. Clear out the static. Dump other people’s baggage out of your flight kit. Fine tune your signal. And buckle up for blast off.

Beliefs are just ideas until put into action. This year’s Sagittarius New Moon is an invitation to live them.

Well, more than an invitation, actually. Firm suggestion is more like it. Okay: demand.

This Moon may be generally philosophically inclined, but this year’s model has a dynamic bent that will not be denied. It’s not the reality-upending variety of dynamic we’ve been experiencing lately, though. This Moon’s dynamic flavor inspires action that expands and stabilizes, with an emphasis on structures and commitments involving hearts and values.

What’s Propelling Us
We are feeling the pull of multiple defining moments in recent history, all of which are placing cosmic hands against our backs and shoving, but good. Think back to the following times, and connect the dots to where you are now.

The last week of December 2013 brought a tectonic shift in patterns and foundations, particularly involving relationships and family traditions, when Mars in Libra formed a T-square with the cosmic change agents, Uranus and Pluto. That shift is currently being pressured into phenomenal expansion and growth. A T-square involving the same signs accompanies this Moon, now with bigger-is-better Jupiter in Libra and that sign’s ruler Venus with Pluto at the brunt of the T-square.

That focal point warrants emphasizing: the planets of desire and money, mere mortal level and huge, primal, outside-rational-confines level, are together on the receiving end of escalating pressure to break free and evolve. And that pressure is emptying into Cancer: our concept of home, family, tradition, nurturing and security.

On a collective level, the line-up reflects fierce issues of values, economics, and tribal definitions .(Who’s part? Who’s not?) On your personal level, consider how your current relationship rule book / connections / desires connect to what shifted for you that week in 2013. Something has sprouted from that crack in the plates and is blossoming.

This Moon also carries the force of the reboot we all received from September’s solar eclipse. The Sagittarius Moon’s square to the eclipse point is a cosmic shove forward, arguing for taking those post-eclipse improvements seriously. What did you clean up or close out? What boundaries did you redraw? They are moving into insistent realities asking for you to commit.

Underscoring that: the North Node is occupying the degree of that eclipse. The future has arrived. It’s time to move away from old wounds, victimization, sabotaging and thinking that is wishful at best, delusional at worst. It’s time to head for tomorrow.

Other late summer/early fall moments play a role as well. This Moon is a moving-on point from determination and focused will (and perhaps some anger) that locked in late August, and then the heart (or the resources to back that determination) getting on board late September. At those times Mars, then Venus merged with Saturn, lord of structure, near the degree where the New Moon is taking place.

Issues of integrity and ethics are live and making it increasingly difficult to stay a course that conflicts with yours. A slogan from early feminism is weirdly and directly applicable: The personal is political. These days, the reverse is, too.

So much pushing us; so much incentive; so much pressure. It’s not out of the blue, though. It’s all an organic outgrowth of matters that have been brewing inside you, and brewing between you and a certain person or two. And it enables firming the situation(s) up, so everyone can relax into and rely on them.

Action Comes Easily
Responding to this call comes naturally, too. The ruler of Sagittarius, Jupiter, is in an easy channel of energy with Mars, ruler of drive and action. The combo encourages grand action with a view to the future. That could well be progressive, aware of the existence and role of others (social action, for example) and seeking negotiation, cooperation and advocacy. It could be detached, iconoclastic and going about things its own way.

However the Mars/Jupiter teamwork manifests — and however you chose to express it — it has the power to mushroom tiny efforts wildly beyond the intended.

And then do something. Especially in your dealings and agreements with others.

Major Relationship Developments
This New Moon ushers a phase in relationships with enormous positive potential. This is particularly so for connections that veer from what has been the wounded norm, into mutually supportive, mutually enhancing pairings.

They’re becoming the new model for long-term relationships. Watch for significant gear shifts in that direction growing out of this Moon phase, which is operating as a gateway. (Inspirational image: the Four of Wands in the Tarot, which depicts a man and woman celebrating publicly at an archway made of wands and garlands.)

Bonds that ramp up or lock in now have long-term durability. That’s not only because love goddess Venus is in Capricorn (and getting the evolutionary whammy discussed above). Another reason is her reinforcement. Juno, the protector of marriage, is right alongside the New Moon. She’s tapping on ring fingers and drawing attention to beliefs about union, commitment and structures that formalize them. Flings will be rare this holiday season. Mistletoe moments with lasting power, on the other hand …

Visibility Advisory
Going with your guidance remains the preferred course of navigation. We’re still operating under murky visibility. Neptune may have gone direct on the 19th, but his clouds of confusion, delusion and, if we’re lucky, transcendence haven’t dissipated. Saturn, ruler of the authority and the status quo, whipped them up for most of the year, and they’re getting a renewed boost from a harsh aspect to the New Moon.

The square could lend high romance to the relationship developments rolling out in this Moon phase. Less pleasant possibilities lurk in the cloudbanks, though. Let your principles guide you through them. Odds are, you won’t be doing it alone.
Learn more in my Astro-Overview for Fall 2016: Welcome to the New Normal.

The Scorpio New Moon delivers a Halloween vibe that’ll outlast the costumes, parties and stashes of candy.

It’s dark and mysterious, with an edge of danger. It’s stirring specters and demons, ghosts and other reminders of mortality, and non-rational impulses with the power to overtake sensibility.

The veil is thin, not just between life and death, but also between conscious and subconscious. Each side is effortlessly tapping into the other just now, and often sliding right across the border. Neptune the illusionist is greasing the way with a direct feed to the New Moon that enhances the season’s otherworldly atmosphere.

He is blurring edges, detail and reason, unhinging us from boring old everyday existence, and shrouding everything in a fantastical glow. With this tight Scorpio/Pisces combo, energetic connections have the power to transcend time/space. You may dream of the dead and wake up feeling like you had a conversation, and likely you did. Life may, at times. feel like a ongoing costume party, at other times like your personal sci-fi movie.

Whether that film is horror or fantasy or rated MA will vary. Fears and phobias are walking among us, in firmer, perhaps more threatening form than usual, perhaps more distorted. Desires and raw sexuality are also on the prowl, with a primal. compulsive force that defies closed doors. (Inspirational image: Spock succumbing to feral passion when he returns to his home planet for spawning season.)

When you feel any of these rising up within you — or see them surfacing in another’s behavior — remember this: Being out in the open makes them easier to spot and easier to recognize for what they are.

This Moon delivers the tools to do just that. With Mercury close by the New Moon, powers of perception are at our disposal bordering on X-ray vision. Information and messages pass wordlessly, with an unshakeable knowing. Even people who claim to be not the least bit psychic are likely to experience bouts of telepathy.

Trust your gut, your instincts, your intuition, the still calm voice within you (as opposed to the chatter-box). It is finely tuned right and at peak operating speed right now.

Also in this lunar toolbox: Willingness to confront these demons on the hoof, with fearlessness on tap as if an unseen hand is pumping an alleged natural powers triple-action Spooks Be Gone! spray. Whether we intentionally target them or not, this Moon is shining a light under the bed and into the closet, dispelling the little men and other terrors from early childhood (as well as of more recent provenance).

Relationships stand to improve in honesty and depth of connection. That fearlessness, and those afore-mentioned desires, have the power to plow down defenses and lead to vulnerability, exposing our full beings before another, and moving into great and tender intimacy, emotional as well as physical.

This Moon has a time-slowing, time-stopping edge to boot. Life may feel more immediate, more in the moment, more intense and focused. The “get down to business” impulse is still with us from the mid-month meeting between Scorpio’s two rulers, Mars and Pluto.

Mars is still ringing with the effects of his clash two days ago with Uranus, cosmic agent of radical, unpredictable change. This has liberated us in some pertinent way, perhaps from a pattern or way of viewing life, perhaps from an agreement or circumstance. We are now able to move more nimbly.

That movement promises to be both inward and forward. You may find yourself in another round (or three) of clearing gunk out of your head and your psyche, of confronting more of your own personal demons and fears and defanging them. If not banishing them.

Every bit of load-lightening and baggage removal frees up energy for pursuing that down to business vibe — via sustained, deepened, streamlined, thorough action, step by tiny step, on long-term goals, structures and ways of being that have been undergoing fundamental revamping for years.

The time is ripe. Circumstances are ripe. We are ripe. Forward movement with far-reaching consequences is occurring now, in part through conscious effort, in part as if pulled by a tractor beam or other greater force. Point yourself in the direction of your dreams and see if you aren’t carried toward them.

Ask, too, for guidance and insight. Ask to be led in the most beneficial direction. Ask for a gentle, loving journey toward your goals. Ask for magic. All are in reach, thanks to the easy flow of the trine between the New Moon and Neptune, ruler of transcendence and the link to all of life and to the divine.

Even with assistance from unseen forces, and visitations from ancestors, and downloads in dreams — all of which are on the rise this coming month — you are actively participating in everything that unrolls under this New Moon. Don’t shy away from grabbing any opportunities you spy. They are coming off the cooperative sextile between the New Moon and the North Node of destiny.

When in doubt, say yes. If the opportunity doesn’t support the platform and path you’re building, it may not survive. Or may shape-shift into something that does.

Train your attention on what matters most to you and let everything else drop. (Except for those opportunities; they’ll sort themselves out.) Having trouble deciding? Does it matter in the long run? Do you want to be thinking about it on your deathbed? Yes: that level of matters most to you.

What did you encounter in the rabbit hole last week? Now we act on it, give in to a part of it, break away in response to it. Movin’ out from Mercury retrograde and bringing the intensity along for the ride. Onward, ho.

December may have you wondering if humankind lives in parallel universes that masquerade as one. Each of them is now undergoing a massive evolutionary surge, furthering agendas and fundamental restructuring that have been years in the works. In one layer, kindness, creativity and concern for the existence of others underlie and ultimately propel a flurry of activity that will feel like long-desired progress. In the other, demagoguery, zealotry, lies and delusion spur and justify anger, violence and, by year’s end, sacrifice and martyrdom.

The milk of human kindness is on tap as the month begins (at least, in universe number one). Drink up and pass it around. It may buffer the occasional and inevitable bleed-through of unpleasantries from the adjoining realm.

The month launches with lightning bolts tilting our thinking and letting in broader, possibly healthier possibilities. Desires and interactions slip into into deeper, possessive mode when Venus, ruler of all we value, moves into Scorpio on the 4th, which she’ll pass through for most of the month. Activity flies for the first 10 days, and it’s not all holiday and year-end tasks. It’s also pushing ahead on the ongoing restructuring of our foundations and long-term security, with Mars, ruler of our drive, entering the ring with cosmic change agents Uranus and Pluto.

His last time there was the week between Christmas and New Year’s in 2013. Watch for the next stage of developments that cracked open then, only this time we’re more invested emotionally and financially. The impact puts testosterone, follow-through and a compulsion to connect in high supply. Relationships and agreements play an enormous role. They instigate, push us, blossom, deepen and/or permanently change their nature. Anger and violence abound as well; December 6 and 10 are particularly hot.

Awareness of cost, consequences and practicalities permeates conversation and commutes after the 9th, when cosmic messenger Mercury enters Capricorn. He’ll retrograde in the sign at the beginning of next year, so matters are likely to come back up then from the last weeks of the month. His presence in earth rather than his preferred element of air lends weightiness to the holiday and year-end info flow. Gatherings will be few, small and select, with serious talk and a higher than usual presence of connections that have stood the test of time.

His mature disposition provides grounding as the Sagittarius New Moon squares Chiron on the 11th and encourages putting long-standing wounds and business to rest. The process promises to go easily, riding on sweet and loving vibes coming off the two rulers of love, Venus and Neptune. If you’ll been running low on the milk of human kindness, that’s the time for a refill.

The vibes give way to personal growth (of the pressure-on-carbon-creating-a-diamond variety) and a maturing in heart and financial connections, as well as in that perspective shift we got at the month’s start. An idea is taking possession, perhaps an effect of those lightning bolts, passionate, all-consuming, intense and clarifying. It summons another round of lightning bolts and a flurry of mental jail breaks.

The clatter is still in the air as the Sun enters Capricorn on the 21st, the longest day of the year and the start of winter. A warm, expansive and nostalgic glow envelops Christmas Eve and Day. Their trappings are fit for an old-fashioned Hollywood movie, courtesy of the Christmas Full Moon in home-oriented Cancer: sentimentality, memories of the good old days, appreciation (okay, maybe simply awareness of) loved ones, indulging in food, food and more food.

The sweetness comes with signals that life will never be the same. Uranus, the agent of liberating change, is stationing to move forward; even as we exchange gifts and hugs, everyone is pulling up anchor and heading for distinctive adventures and futures. Our own values and desires are guiding our actions. Emphatic, separating conversation may be necessary to spell this out in the year’s final days, but it’s not likely to squelch a lovely holiday vibe. (In the first parallel universe number, that is. The other one looks to be completely unhinged from reason by then.)

The holiday atmosphere gets a boost when Venus enters Sagittarius for a four-week stay on the 30th. She encourages fun, cracking jokes, getting out with other people and exploring (though she may not so privately be convinced that her way of thinking is superior). Even so, this New Year’s Eve is not the stuff of mob scenes. We are ending the year with refocused hearts and minds, inclined to connect with a select few.

Turn off the news and concentrate on shoring up your little nook of the universe. You can’t stop the violence or the crazies, but you can maintain your own sanity and joy and allow that to radiate outward and maybe, just maybe slip into the universe next door.

The last day of the year encourages tenderness, intimacy and profound embracing of personal truth and streamlined but unshakeble priorities. They stay with us and mold our vision as we ring out the old and welcome the new.

No idea why this didn’t post earlier this week — I did schedule it. Hmmmm.

The real-world impact of ideas comes home to roost at the Gemini Full Moon. It delivers an emotional report card that we can’t hide — which won’t stop some of us from trying. It rewards responsibility. It motivates responses and reactions. And it brings constraints, sanctions and repercussions

Since Gemini is an air sign, you might expect a full moon in it to be more intellectual and detached than emotional. Not this one. It’s laden with heavy energies, finger-wagging, patronizing and aggression. On the plus side (there’s always a plus side), the line-up inspires maturity, wisdom, taking control of your information flow and assuming responsibility for thoughts, words and belief. Behave like a grown-up, and you will reap solid emotional support. Otherwise, it’s cosmic nun with the ruler time (the question being who’s the nun and who’s the target).

Stern, consequence-oriented Saturn and trickster Mercury are ganging up on the Sun and Moon. The two planets are opposite the Moon and on the side of the Sun, waiting for him to cross in the next few days. As the ruler of Gemini, Mercury, planet of gab and getting around, is the host of this event. He’s hardly his usual happy-go-lucky, high-flying self, though. Saturn has been putting the brakes on Mercury of late. The effect runs the gamut from feeling hopeless to feeling muzzled or stifled to feeling grounded and stable.

Feeling reactions all, despite the Full Moon occupying an air sign. Messages are landing hard. Developments you’ve worked toward are hitting blocks and frustration. Requirements you’ve let slide have been closing in, demanding attention (or leading to consequences).On the other hand, evidence is popping up of emotional support. Look for words of support, solidarity, acknowledgement of like-mindedness or long-standing appreciation. They do exist now. Don’t just be on the receiving end; send out a few yourself.

Saturn is affecting both sides of Mercury’s personality. The lord of order is reining in the didactic, jingoistic, my-way-or-the-highway tendencies that the winged messenger takes on in Sagittarius, the sign he’s currently traversing. Since Mercury has two faces, though, he’s also assuming Saturn’s authority in some circumstances: saying “no” or “not now;” lecturing; pontificating; causing drivers to make like traffic cops. There’s a flip side to this authority. If you are experiencing constriction and disappointment — feeling boxed in, overwhelmed, suffocating, being driven to tears — first, acknowledge and vent your reaction (in other words, don’t add to the stifling). Then look for a different perspective. Inspect the box, the seams, the walls for any crack or window or way around. The solution may be in how you are looking at the situation.

The relationship links to Saturn and Mercury add to this Moon’s character of ideas piercing — or touching — the heart. The pair is in a shoving match with illusionist Neptune, which is whipping up confusion, delusion, lies, religiosity and issues of compassion, blurred boundaries/borders, martyrdom and sacrifice. (This is exact for Saturn on Thursday and returns in March and the beginning of June next year. )

It’s a tricky game, because Saturn rules structure and form, and Neptune is completely formless. The Saturnian impulse is to contain, but how do you grab a cloud? Or the ocean? Neptune’s input is dissolving structures and rules, so subtly that we don’t see. (Don’t think our social compact isn’t being eaten away; the heat is turning up on the proverbial lobster pot.) Meanwhile the shove has pushed Mercury’s trickster nature over into silver-tongued devil mode, playing fast and loose with the truth.

Under this configuration, the more a lie is broadcast, the more people adopt it as truth. Smoke and mirrors, spin doctors and misdirection are in overdrive. They’re easy to spot in the news. You may be too close in your own life to detect their presence. Trust your gut or guidance. Remember that actions do speak louder than words, and that these days, a lot of actions are deflecting attention from words, and vice versa.

Warrior god Mars is in a cooperative aspect to both Mercury and Saturn, one that equally pumps up assertiveness and motivation, on one end, and aggression and anger on the other. Mars is delivering the courage to speak your heart and — what’s this week about in the US again? — express heartfelt thanks, maybe with a side dish of love and forgiveness. (How about showing aging relatives compassion? Elders and authority figures losing their hold on reality/sanity are part of Saturn squaring Neptune.) He is also encouraging bully pulpits, intimidating speech, interjection of religion into government and furious pronouncements about social, legal and international issues that range from (and in some cases, blend) messianic to crazy to dictatorial. (Hence the rise in political figures openly inviting and justifying violence against citizens, not to mention arguing for unconstitutional actions.)

As that extreme behavior escalates, this Full Moon will call some speakers to task for the consequences of their ideas — or it could weave them into the collective discussion with a staying power that squelches dissenting viewpoints and erodes the ground rules. Apply that dichotomy to your life and to your Thanksgiving plans, and adapt your behavior accordingly.

The caution from the November outlook holds: Throw out that childhood maxim, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” They certainly could now. With Mercury/Saturn directly opposite the Full Moon, matters that might otherwise be entirely intellectual are mobilizing emotions. Words — and the beliefs they reveal — can wallop. Words can make a heart black and blue. Words can have lasting ramifications. And everyone could be mishearing, misconstruing or misunderstanding, because of the Moon’s ruler Mercury pressing the button long and hard on Neptune’s fog machine.

Forewarned is forearmed. Thanksgiving week is simply going to feel and play out differently than other years, even the recent ones that already broke from old ways. This gives you some latitude to make up your own rules. Declare certain topics off-limits. (Politics, for starters.) Cut back your obligations, social calendar, guest list and even menus to only what is truly important to you.

Focus on the positive, security-building potentials inherent in this Full Moon. (Yes, you may have to dig for them. Effort pays off.) Look for the ideas, words and information sources that feed and support you emotionally — and that nurture your long-term projections. Take responsibility for the thoughts, ideas and words coming out of you, too. Strive for compassion, forgiveness and viewing people through the eyes of love. Speak maturely and from the heart. Clean up your side of the table. The exercise is good for the soul and will help sink your anchor deeply into yourself.